Thursday, February 9, 2012

motivation

Mornings in our house are as typical as any I suppose. 
We have to make sure our kids wake up.
We have to make sure our kids look appropriate when they leave to school. 
But not on Thursdays.  Thursday is JROTC dress up day.
 No sneaking out in anything out of order here....in fact, we woke up to Braden
asking for his Dad to inspect his uniform. (insert blurry eyed groggy me ...
BLERGH what?)

We like JROTC in this house. 
Because we are a military family?
NOPE.
Because the cadre will bark up one
side and down the other of my oldest son's
tree if he falls out of order.  And if he is out
of order, he is off the rifle team. 

Motivation.
Motivation to do well in school.
Motivation to be on time.
Motivation to look sharp.
GREAT!

After I was fully awake, and I have told Colton to go
change his uniform (also a green shirt, but a polo and
khaki pants), I got Olivia ready for school.  It's
P.E. day and they are learning to do back bends.
Must.
Dress.
Accordingly.
(they mean it, it's not Olivia's idea, even if
she agrees completely)

Then a little known thing about my youngest daughter happened.
Mess with her morning and she does something...
strange...
familiar....
and infuriating...
she Russell's.

Yes she does the "Russell", a trait anyone
close to my side of the family has witnessed in my
youngest brother.
In fact the more urgent a person
is to get things moving, the more Russell will
quietly, and stubbornly, digs his heels in and decides to
start moving slower than tar in January.  I  mean
it.

I tried to get him to hurry across Highway 48 when
a semi truck was coming down the road.  NOPE.
NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

Olivia does this, but she doesn't get mad when
you push her too far like my brother.  She
cries and shuts down. 

Motivating her is hard and complicated stuff.  BUT
today, her Dad came home from work early and
picked us up on the way to school (saving her from
being WAY late), and she made it!  Seeing her Dad
in his Avalanche, she started running like MAD.
Daddy is her motivation.

After Chris went to work, it left me with my dogs,
a chilly morning, and being on the other side of
base from my house.  Which for today was my only
motivation.  If I don't walk, I don't get home.

But luckily today was jump day at the Airborn School
here on Fort Benning.  I got to walk around, enjoy the
morning (it was pretty cold) and listen to the jump
masters give instructions repeatedly over a loud speaker
as they hoisted men up in groups of three just to drop
them and their parachute to join the others on the
ground.

The jump master would tell them when they got to
the top..."IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE...YOU
HAVE FOUND WHAT YOU SHOULD BE!!!", and
then proceed to order them to be dropped in turns
on the count of one (drop one) two (drop the second)
and three (off goes the third).

I don't think there is enough motivation in the WORLD
that could get me to do that.  I will take my walk
across base.  I enjoyed it too.  I dropped the dogs off
at the dog park and chatted with some ladies about
Fort Stewart, and then headed on my way.  No time
frame, no one yelling at me.  No real hurry.  No one
MAKING me be motivated.  And guess what?
It was encouraging.










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